29 June 2018

19 June 2018

The O.D. Gallery cordially invites you to the exhibition Nurture or Nature, combining the work of ADOR and Pipsqueak was here!!!

The artists feel a strong connection towards animal life and nature in general. They wonder where the balance in treating all creatures right tipped into the favour of the economy. We live ignoring the damaging consequences driven by our primal forces. Are we obediently doing as we are told or do we just act on impulse?

Pipsqueak was here!!! is an Amsterdam based duo that holds a knife in their hands throughout the majority of each day as their stencils rule their life and work. They prefer to paint on reclaimed wood or other leftovers and treasures from the trash. No paint is wasted; they find it a sport to minimize their carbon footprint. Caution children at play is their motto. It illustrates the childish behaviour of our human nature that toys with mother earth.

Ador is a French artist who has created his own universe filled with imaginary characters inspired by fairy tales, circus spectacles, current events, caricatures. He likes to mix all the characters he has already painted in different situations. Ador currently lives on the exotic Reunion Island.

14 March 2018

Vertical Gallery, Chicago’s premier urban-contemporary art gallery, is proud to present a special exhibition celebrating their 5-year anniversary. The show will feature 23 artists from nine different countries with artistic styles that have shaped the gallery’s programming over the years. The exhibition runs April 7 – 28, with an opening reception on Saturday, April 7th, 6:00-10:00pm.

Since opening its doors at 1016 N. Western Avenue in 2013, Vertical Gallery has presented ambitious exhibitions with work influenced by street art, urban environments, graffiti, pop culture, graphic design and illustration. With 10 to 12 group and solo shows per year, plus participation in major international art fairs, they have featured nearly 300 different artists from around the world in their exhibitions.

“We are very grateful for the support we have received from art collectors in Chicago and around the world,” says Patrick Hull, owner of Vertical Gallery. “We are very excited about celebrating this milestone with many of the amazing artists we have worked with over the past five years, and a few showing with us for the first time. I wish we could fit all 300 in the gallery space for this occasion. Stay tuned: We’re filling our upcoming calendar with more amazing local, national and international talent to keep you engaged.”

05 May 2017

04 May 2017

We are
an Amsterdam based artist duo, driven by a strong passion for all life on
planet earth. In our work that has developed quite a bit over the years this
theme remains untouched.

The
logo we have chosen for Pipsqueak was here!!! Is a found object. On a trip
through Maui we photographed an old traffic sign depicting both a boy with a
fishing rod followed by a cat and a girl carrying her teddy bear followed by a
dog.

Underneath
the words, caution children at play. It took a while before we realised how
much this image meant to us. The words, caution children at play, seemed to
refer to the way we as mankind deal with our environment. Stating we are
children that play with the planet in a rough fashion. It is a warning that
combines to be cautious with the soothing fact we are playing as children,
young ones that need to be educated. The girl with the bear eventually became
our logo and also an image we started using for many works.

Animals have always been an
integral component of human storytelling. They stand in for humans in fables
and take the place of people in morality tales. The animals in our work, in
particular the bears, are not metaphorical placeholders for humans, but are actually
what they are supposed to be, animals. The purpose of representing animals
literally in our art is to fundamentally change the way we regard and interact
with animals in the real world. As environmental worries have grown, the
relationship between animals and humans has become more strained.

There is a profound connection
between consumer society, the politics of power, and the mechanisms of desire.
The promise of a good life in terms of happiness, well-being and the success of
an individual presumed that we have to have more stuff, has become compulsive.
But this growth doesn’t really come without consequences. We act in a reckless
way, using more natural recourses, taking more space and leave less nature for
other inhabitants on this planet.

Concerns about the preservation of
natural habitats to the quality of life for animals bring up issues that
deserve to be considered. We don't know if the world needs saving,
it's the human race that might need saving. We've got to return to a
balance within the world.

We try to put our message across in
an attractive way. It's important
for audiences to see that it's not too late – or people won't see the
point in doing anything. It is not a silver bullet, but we
hope to start a dialogue.